Stories of Our Heroes
by Cyanide 6
Summary: An assortment of oneshots/drabbles. Most likely unrelated. Most likely random. Most likely based off of prompts. Ranging from humor to fluff to angst to anything else I can write :) Pairings may (and will be) completely random, ranging from canon to complete crack, with lots of noncanon in between. R&R please! Rating may increase as needed.
1. Lost

"Follow me, princess."

Aelita blinked through the gloom. "Ulrich, I'm not sure if we're going the right way."

He glanced back at her. She was nervous, he could tell. She wanted to be home (or at least at Kadic). She wanted to be safe with Jeremie and the others. She didn't want to be on this mountain side. She was wishing she hadn't decided to go on Odd's 'shortcut'.

.

_Odd competitive. "A race then, Ulrich. Why don't you take the shortcut, and I'll take the normal way!"_

_Ulrich reluctant. "Nuh uh. We don't know if it's safe. We don't even know where it leads."_

"_Take Jeremie with you. He's smart, he'll know directions and survival and stuff."_

_Jeremie unwilling. "No way. I'm sticking to the safe path, thank you."_

_Aelita willing to take a risk. "I'll go with you. Besides, anything is better than listening to you two bicker on the way down."_

_Smiling. Happy. Joking around…_

_._

Ulrich glanced back at her. "Don't worry Aelita. I'll get you off of here."

He sounded sure of himself. He wasn't going to let her know that they were lost. He'd find a way down.

.

"Ulrich?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure we're going the right way? It feels like we've been out here forever."

"It's only been a few hours. Don't worry."

But she did worry. And she had reason to. It had been ten hours, the sun was going down.

And one guy, somewhat lacking in the knowledge of survival skills, and one girl who had been on Earth less than a year, were hardly equipped to know how to make it on their own…

.

"Ulrich, it's really getting dark. Shouldn't we have made it down by now?"

"I know what I'm doing. Stop pestering me."

.

The next morning, the sun rose, and the two set off, getting themselves hopelessly lost in the mountain range…

.

"Ulrich?"

"Ulrich, how long have we been here?"

"Ulrich, do you know where we're going?"

"Ulrich where are we?"

"Ulrich, where are we going?!"

"ULRICH?!"

.

Days run together. And you lose your way. And you lose sight of what's real. And you lose sight of what's not.

Days without food or sleep can do that.

Weeks with only a few sips of water from the occasional stream.

And even when you find something to eat. Something to drink. Even when you pass out from exhaustion. The weeks go on.

Hallucinations. Deliriums.

Silence.

What is real?

.

Her questions stopped long after his answers.

And long before they were found.

Had weeks passed?

Months?

But the two wouldn't say what had happened. Their eyes were still haunted. Their _minds _were haunted. They wouldn't talk. And when they were left alone, they would pace.

In circles.

Back and forth.

Anywhere.

Just to keep moving. To keep searching.

Because to them, they hadn't found safety.

In their minds, they're still on the mountain.

Still searching.

Still lost.


	2. Blood

Blood is a powerful thing.

It overrides the strongest of emotions, of feelings.

Love and friendship…

Hate and desire for revenge…

These can be overridden by the instinct to save those that share our blood.

Call it familial loyalty.

Call it what you will, it comes down to one thing.

Blood.

Because that is the one thing you cannot deny.

That is the one bond that no amount of time or stress can erode.

That is what causes sometimes irrational actions.

And that is what caused Aelita to betray her friends to X.A.N.A. for the promise of saving her father.


	3. Sweets

Ulrich snuck into his room, tiptoeing. Odd was downstairs, but he had threatened Ulrich that if he so much as touched Odd's candy, Odd wouldn't let Ulrich use his cheat sheet at the next big test.

Ulrich promised, but Odd insisted that Ulrich not go into their room without Odd, until Odd managed to buy something to lock his candy in.

Odd insisted so much, that their deal ended up with Ulrich not being allowed to enter the room (on punishment of no test help) until Odd dealt with the candy.

Now Ulrich _had _to sneak up, to get a few papers of his. But he had to be careful.

Very careful…

Just then he heard footsteps, racing up the hall.

His heart began racing faster, and he glanced around quickly, before dashing into the closet at the last minute.

He got in in a nick of time. He quickly silenced his phone, and waited.

Outside, he heard the sound of the Odd's candy bag rustling.

_Great, Odd's here to deal with his candy, _Ulrich thought with relief.

But no. He heard a piece of candy being unwrapped, and soon the room was full of the sound of candy being eaten.

Odd really was the biggest candy eater Ulrich had ever met.

Yumi's parents didn't let her eat candy.

Aelita liked the sweetness, but didn't have a huge appetite.

Jeremie ate some when he worked, but he didn't eat much.

Ulrich wasn't a huge fan.

As time passed, Ulrich heard a small snuffle at his feet. He glanced down to see Kiwi, illuminated by the light under the door.

Kiwi clawed at the door, slightly, before he began pacing.

_Oh no._

Ulrich had seen that pacing before. Kiwi was getting ready to go all over Ulrich.

_Come on, Odd, leave. Leave. LEAVE!_

But the munching didn't stop.

And Ulrich was desperate.

_Good bye test grades, _he thought, and flung the door open.

What he saw was not what he expected.

"Ulrich?!"

Ulrich blinked at the figure eating candy.

"Yumi?!"


	4. Eternal

Her eyes stared at them as the five ran through Carthage.

She wanted to reach out, to touch them, to tell them she was here.

She wanted to tell them that X.A.N.A.'s virus had had bound her soul to Lyoko.

That she was here, watching them.

She wanted to warn them about the monsters around the corner.

But all she could do was watch.

She was trapped, silent.

.

She watched the brown haired boy, her Ulrich, run a monster through with a sword.

She saw Odd try and make a joke, though the mood of the team was too low for anyone to even smile.

She saw Aelita run toward the tower.

X.A.N.A.'s attacks had become more and more dire.

It was all the Lyoko Warriors could do just to stop him, rather less do so before anyone died…

This counted for Yumi.

Her spirit was now bound to Lyoko.

She wanted to help them.

But all she could do was watch.

She was trapped, powerless.

.

She watched her replacement.

William, always so cocky, always so sure of himself…

Now he was just the one who replaced their Yumi.

And however much he tried to prove himself as a permanent member, he felt her loss strongly too.

She wanted to tell him to do his best.

That what the best thing he could do to honor her was to do his best.

But all she could do was watch.

She was trapped, helpless.

.

And time passed.

And X.A.N.A. was not defeated.

And they tried their best, their veryvery_very_ best…

But despite all their efforts, William was only the first in a line of replacements.

Years had passed.

No members of the original Lyoko Warriors were alive anymore.

None were here anymore.

Except Yumi.

Yumi, who could only watch.

Yumi who was trapped.

Silent, powerless, helpless.

Eternal.


	5. Silence

William stood on Lyoko. He stared ahead, glancing around, waiting for something to move.

He whipped around, hearing what sounded like footsteps, but it was only a pebble being blown by the air of the dry desert sector.

"No," he whispered. "No, I promised I'd come back. I promised I'd save you. Please, you have to still be here!"

But he was met with a deafening silence. The noise of Lyoko that he had become used to, the creatures moving back and forth on their own free will, carrying out conversations, was all gone.

The Lyoko Warriors had never thought to consider that the 'monsters' that they so mercilessly destroyed might not be the 'monsters' that they seemed to be.

Maybe they were people. People trapped on Lyoko for years. Forced into monstrous forms. Only able to communicate via the thing that held them there. Xana's control, not simply an oppressive control, but also a communication network.

Because unlike when Xana controlled you on Earth, having an actual part of Xana in you allowed him entire control over you. Except for one thing.

Complete control, the like of which was on William, did _not _control your mind. You could think, you could watch, as if watching a movie. With no ability to stop yourself.

And all of Xana's 'minions' had a sort of hive mind. They could communicate with each other, mentally. And that's when William learned that the 'monsters' were _not_ just programs.

Not by a long shot.

Aelita and Franz Hopper had _not _been the first ones in Lyoko. No, many many _many _people had gone in before. But Xana had gotten to them. And put them in the forms of these monsters. And hijacked their forms to fight for him.

And every time one of them died, it was permanent.

But when the Lyoko Warriors left Lyoko. When Xana left them alone, to do what they wanted, things almost seemed normal.

Sure, some people rolled, some flew. Some were square, some were round. But they were all people. And they always found ways to pass the time. They got to know each other. They had become friends and family.

But then a tower would be activated, and they'd be brought to a holding cell. And it was a terrifying moment. Because if you were chosen to go out and fight, you would either be killed or take out a Lyoko Warrior. And both were horrible, because even if you _did _survive, it was by taking out someone who was protecting the Earth. And every shot you fired that made contact was putting the world in even more danger.

It was a nightmarish existence, but when the fighting went away, life went on.

Now it was quiet.

Xana had been defeated. The world was silent.

And as William stared at the empty desert, he felt like he had failed them.

Because they were destroyed when Xana was.

And now Lyoko was silent.

William's life had become silent.

After living so long in a world always full of the thoughts of others, he had gotten used to it.

And now it was all overcome in silence.

William could never tell the Lyoko Warriors.

Their lives had already been wrought with pain and suffering.

To tell them that they were now responsible for the deaths of thousands…

To tell them that every time they celebrated the defeat of a monster, they were celebrating the murder of a person…

To tell them that the creatures they mocked and killed were people who were trying their best (in vain) to not attack them…

Could anyone be that cruel?

William wasn't.

He devirtualized himself, and shut down the supercomputer.

Walking back from the factory, for the last time, he closed his eyes, trying to think of something.

Anything to drown out the deafening roar of silence.


End file.
